Two Juneau bridges subject of public meetings

State transportation officials will be holding two public meetings about two separate Juneau bridge projects Monday.

The Trout Street Bridge over Jordan Creek will be discussed at the Mendenhall Valley Library conference room from 12:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. Monday.

The Trestle Bridge on Basin Road will be discussed at the Downtown Library conference room from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday.

Both meetings are called "scoping" meetings, and will be held in an open house format. Project personnel will be available to answer questions and take comments, said Arne Oydna, engineering manager for the projects with the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

The two bridges are owned by the City and Borough of Juneau, and are being repaired with money provided by the Federal Highway Administration and handled by the state.

The Trout Street project will replace a corroding bridge installed in 1984 with a new, prefabricated concrete structure.

The Trestle Bridge was built in 1936, and was found in 2007 to have several deficiencies, Oydna said.

There is $2 million available to complete the two projects, said Mike Scott, streets superintendent with the CBJ, though he would not divulge engineering cost estimates on the individual projects.

The earliest the Trout Creek bridge will be replaced is next summer, he said.

The Trestle Bridge is more complicated because it is the only access up Basin Road. Work may be done early next spring or later in the fall in an effort to not interfere with summer tourism and recreational traffic, he said.

"That said, its a critical link to our water supply so we are going to have to do it at some point," he said.

The Basin Road project may take a month to do, he said. The Trout Street project may take even longer, he said, but is less difficult because there is alternate access available.

Oydna said the two projects are not linked, but the same design consultant is doing both. The hearings are on the same day so the consultant can fly in from Anchorage and attend both meetings.